The striker is Poland's all-time top scorer with 82 goals in his 150 appearances for the national side.

Seven of those goals have come at major tournaments – two at FIFA World Cups and five at European championships – and he scored three goals in Poland's qualifying campaign to help it reach the finals tournament.

However, Lewandowski has been ruled out of the Eagles' opener after sustaining a hamstring injury in their final warm-up friendly against Turkiye last week.

They are also missing striker Karol Swiderski because of an ankle injury, while Arkadiusz Milik withdrew from the squad as well.

Zielinski, who will wear the captain's armband in Lewandowski's absence, remained confident Poland has the players to get a victory.

"It is a great pity Robert Lewandowski cannot help us in this match," Zielinski said.

"He is a world-class player, and we will miss him. But whether it is me or the team-mates, we will add something extra to achieve the goal, which is to win.

"The qualifications were not exactly what we would have expected. The most important thing is that we are here, and we will do whatever we can."

Lewandowski is in contention to feature in Poland's other two Group D matches, with Austria and France also lying in wait.

Probierz will manage just his third game without the 35-year-old in the side, but echoed Zielinski's optimism ahead of a stern test against Netherlands.

"There's nothing to hide, we will miss him. But other players will have to do what they can to get a result. I hope he will have other opportunities to play," he said.

"We have to change this team generationally. We will do whatever we have to do as a team to play well. We will not step back, we will progress.

"Everyone is saying we are going to lose. Everyone is writing us off. But we have a team that wants to fight for each other."